Set Up To Fail
by babesrus2
Summary: A mission gone horribly wrong. Who, What, Why. Will this be the end? A Babe HEA.
1. Chapter 1

**I believed that I had retired from writing, but I guess I was just tired. My muse took off with two suitcases and her passport and after repeated pleading by text and email she finally contacted me. She has arrived safely back home, thank goodness, yes, in time for winter again! Sigh.**

**Thanks once again to Megan for her green pen. Love you, hate the pen! **

**Thanks too to Margaret for her encouragement (cough-nagging). Even she does not know how many times this hit the trash barrel!**

**Once again, JE deserves the credit for these amazing characters. Someday I might dream up my own, but until then...**

**This is written from mostly Rangers' POV.**

Chapter 1

My name is Ricardo Carlos Manoso or Ranger to my friends and enemies alike. I am of Cuban ancestry which I am extremely proud of. I think that I look in damn good shape for a man my age and if we can keep a secret between us I am just a bit vain about my physique. I work hard to maintain this body and hope to for years to come.

I have few vices or weaknesses, but my most pressing one at the present time is a curly haired, brunette ball of energy named Stephanie Plum.

Before I dwell on that too much, back to my dilemma. The late night phone call unnerved me enough that my tortured sleep became cause for restless pacing in my extra large bedroom. Knowing that sleep would not be coming soon, I pulled on some workout gear and headed downstairs. I was hoping that at 2 am the gym would be empty.

Quickly I warmed up and stepped on the treadmill. I set it for ten miles hoping that the monotonous pounding I was going to inflict on this hapless machine would be enough to shut down my brain. Why should I be surprised when the timer rang and I was no closer to a clear and relaxed mind. The gym was still empty so I headed for the martial arts mat in the middle of the floor and commenced a choreographed but difficult series of movements. I knew that someone would be monitoring me up in the control room and that gave me both comfort and anger at the same time.

My body was tired but my mind was still going a million miles a minute. Abandoning the whole idea of continuing my fitness routine, I dragged my tired body back to seven for a long and relaxing shower. I shrugged off and stepped out of my clothes dropping them like breadcrumbs in the forest all the way to the shower. Under normal circumstances I would expend the energy to put them in the laundry hamper, but I just couldn't find the will or desire to do it at the moment. I turned on the water and stepped in reveling in the hard jets of water that pounded on my flesh. Yes, this was the ticket.

Feeling refreshed I turned off the water and stepped out. The bathmat cushioned my feet as I stood dripping. I had the towel in my hand ready to wipe the moisture off my body when my eye spied a blue scrunchie around the toothbrush holder.

I had tried to drive her away but she had wormed her way into my life again.

I commenced drying off, but the electronic bracelet on my right ankle was chaffing from the sweat of working out and the shower I had just finished.

I was a prisoner in my own building.

Shit.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for taking a chance on this story. I loved all the positive reviews and PM's. I know, I know, JE owns them all. **

Chapter 2

My phone was blinking with an incoming call as I emerged from the bathroom. I had a towel draped around my waist which I was holding mostly closed by one hand. My hair was down and soft waves were beginning to form. I cursed slightly as I passed by the full length mirror. I liked to wear my hair long, but when I took a shower, my hair would take on all the characteristics of a woman who had spent time with rollers in their hair before a date. Bad asses did not have ringlets!

Picking up the phone, I wondered who was calling me now. Calls in the middle of the night rarely meant good news and so far I was one for one on bad news. With a great deal of trepidation, I opened my phone and pressed the button to access my voice mail message.

"Are you OK?" came the voice of an angel, masquerading as my Babe. She was using the burned phone I had had Tank slip to her. His instruction to her was to use that phone only when calling anyone at Rangeman, me included. The worry in her voice was apparent by the slight tremor.

She was smart, and devious, but at the same time had a cute but extremely curious nature about her too. Many times in her bounty hunting days she had closed a case by her bulldog attitude. Once she got the scent she was like a dog with a bone in her teeth.

My men had on occasion stealthily slipped files to her to search for that hidden clue that had puzzled them knowing that her "spidey sense" was a treasure and very valued. More times than I could ever count, she had "saved the day" with some niggling tidbit of information that allowed us to bring in the next unfortunate skip. Rangeman coffers benefited, and I always made sure that she was fairly compensated.

I was having trouble controlling my emotions listening to those three beautiful words. Stephanie and I had finally both taken our heads out of our asses and acknowledged what it seemed everyone else had come to the conclusion a long time ago. We had been dancing around the issue for so long that we had basically forgotten why we could not be in a relationship with each other and just the thought that we might spend the rest of our lives apart, actually brought us together.

Looking back, it had started so innocently.

~~~Flashback~~~

As my usual pattern, when I needed grounding, I would pick her lock on my way into her apartment late at night and settle myself into the chair in the corner of her bedroom. That night, she had not been her usual self, but instead of sleeping, voicing her little sleepy sounds, she had begun to thrash around a bit. I could tell that she was having a bad dream, but unable to tear myself away, I listened to what she was murmuring in her sleep.

It was very illuminating.

My beautiful Babe was afraid that I would once again be leaving her to head off and try to save the world. She was moaning that something was feeling off about this mission and she was trying not to interfere but at the same time trying to get me to see that there was something lurking out there with my name on it.

Her sounds and cries of fear and foreboding tore at my very soul. In spite of myself, I couldn't leave her to her misery, so toeing off my boots and quietly undoing and dropping my web belt on the chair, I crawled into her bed and cradled her in my arms. I started murmuring Spanish endearments in her ear, trying to calm her from her nightmare.

She stilled her thrashings and nestled into me. She laid her head with all that curly mess of hair on my right shoulder, sighed and I could feel her relax as she wriggled herself against me. Her body seemed to know how to find the exact spot so that she could touch me and yet be comfortable for us both to stay wrapped up without fear of pressure points and the tingly feelings from lying in an unnatural position for any length of time.

Iwrapped my arm around her and pulled her even closer to me while pressing my nose against the back of her head and then moving slightly to find that little spot behind her ear. I could feel myself starting to relax and drifted off to sleep with the intention of leaving before she woke up.

Unfortunately, my inner alarm clock must have been malfunctioning and I woke to her already awake. She had not moved to alert me to her new state of awareness. I must have been more tired than I thought.

She turned around in my arms and looked at me. "When do you have to go?"

I looked at my watch and sighed. "A couple of hours, Babe."

Stephanie stiffened in my arms. Then, drawing on that enormous storehouse of strength, she gently placed her hands on both sides of my face and kissed me softly on the lips.

"If we only have now, we will make it count until the next time I see you," she whispered.

Her hands moved down my face and around my neck. She was taking the lead and was a woman not to be denied any longer. Her kiss was long and passionate. First she slowly worked my t-shirt up my chest and partially imprisoned my arms against her headboard. Normally this would have put me in alarm mode, but I trusted her completely and her feather light kisses as she rolled my shirt higher and higher only made my body more excited. Finally, she released my arms and flung the now useless piece of clothing behind her nonchalantly.

She then looked at my cargoes and slowly unbuckling my belt, began to inch my pants down past my hips, never taking her eyes off of my face. My body was responding to her gentle touches as she bent to start kissing me, nipping and using her tongue as she moved down my body. My cargoes were tossed aside and she looked at me with a hunger that only I could satisfy.

In spite of myself, I was powerless to deny what my body was telling me. This woman was definitely all I could handle.

Eventually, we managed to make it to the shower where she once again took control. All her actions were screaming, "Mine, Mine, Mine."

My phone rang once. I was just putting on my boots and stood up.

Stephanie was standing by the door. She was dressed in just her powder blue robe. I wanted to take her in my arms and hold her forever, but my time was up.

As I walked to the door, she stiffened her spine and looked at me. "Don't get shot, Batman."

I replied. "Don't go crazy, Babe."

We smiled at our not so secret farewell and I walked out the door to an uncertain future.

~~~End Flashback~~~

I contemplated phoning her back, but looking at the bedside clock, decided that she needed her sleep. I would contact her when she let me know she was somewhere safe to talk.

Dropping my towel by the edge of the bed, I climbed into my extra large bed, scooting over to 'my side'. I punched my pillow a few times and nestled my head into its soft confines. It was still not enough.

I reached over and grabbed the pillow beside me. Pulling it to my nose, I could smell the faint scent of Stephanie's perfume. I hugged it to me and smiled as I finally dropped off to sleep, my mind finally starting to relax.

I woke up in a sweat. The sheets were tangled around my legs imprisoning me as I thrashed. I had been re-living my last mission again. The aches and pains of my wounds throbbed in memory of that awful two weeks.

~~~Painful Flashback~~~

My arms were locked behind me and my legs were shackled to a metal ring in the floor. My fellow soldiers were also laying in the room. It looked to be dark out now and the absence of the oppressive heat in the small room that was our prison, was starting to cool us and in some cases, start the shivering all over again.

This mission had been compromised from the very beginning. They were waiting for us at the drop zone as we stepped out of the helicopter. The pilot and his gunners tried to help us but they were in danger of being shot down and had to lift off before we could scramble back in. The surface to air shell went in one side of the open-doored helicopter and out the other side.

We were surrounded and relieved of our weapons, boots and packs. We endured a three day march with no food and little water to sustain us. Our wounded were ordered to keep up or risk the consequences and unfortunately two were not able to withstand the pace. We heard two shots behind us as we plodded along.

They knew who everyone was. They knew our mission and were content to kill us slowly. It seemed as though we were being selected one at a time. They casually picked at random. A scared newbie would be followed by a seasoned vet. No rank was missed. If I could have saved my men I would have sacrificed myself, but it appeared that I was to be the last.

Every few days there was another empty ring in the floor. Talking was forbidden and the punishment was severe if caught.

My hands were numb from being locked behind me for so long. I had scabs and open sores from the shackles. My clothes hung on me from lack of food. I had been hit by rifle butts enough that one eye was swollen shut and I could feel my cracked ribs every time I moved. I tried not to cough too hard. Pleurisy was not an option right now.

The door opened and a crowd of soldiers poured into our cell. We didn't even look as they raced in. It was too dark to make out any identities. We knew in our hearts that we were all going to die and one at a time or all at once was too much to be afraid of right now. They roughly grabbed us, cutting the chains from the floor and carried us out of our room from hell.

I recognized a couple of them from prior missions, but my tongue was so swollen from the heat and lack of water that I could not speak, even to thank them. I was too dehydrated to have tears running down my face.

I was being carried in a fireman's hold and could hear the choppers coming in for a landing.

We were thrown on the floor of the chopper and it lifted off. Then and there, I decided that I needed to go to Mass a few more times to thank God I was still alive.

Before I lost consciousness, I thought once again of my Babe. During my capture I would visualize myself with her at my side. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that she would be the only one for me and if it was God's will and I made it out alive, I intended to try to convince her to be in my life. I was more than willing to make her mine forever, if she would have me.

Thoughts of her as I lay in that hell hole of a room may have contributed to my desire to fight for my life and try to make it out alive and have her back into my arms.

After checking us over and treating our lacerations, wounds and filling us with antibiotics and food, we were supplied with new uniforms and released from the base hospital. An armed guard escorted us to a transport plane and watched as we buckled ourselves in for the long ride stateside.

Another escort met us upon arrival and we were whisked away to a building on base I had never been to. Let me tell you. I had been on this base many times and I had never even realized that this building existed.

We entered from what looked like a garden shed with an elevator that went down. We were led to separate conference rooms and I never saw my fellow mission mates again.

I was locked into a smallish conference room. There was a table in the corner with bottles of water, cans of pop and a coffee urn complete with cups, spoons and cream and sugar in disposable packets.. There were sandwiches and fruit on a plate. It looked to me like I would be here awhile. No debriefing had ever gone this way.

I knew that there was a pane of one way glass and the table and chair were strategically placed so that every movement I made would be observed.

Having seen this before, the first thing I did was to take the chair and move it around the table to the opposite side. I had observed no cameras pointing the other way. My idea was that they were going to have to order me to return the chair and sit where it had been placed. I didn't think whoever would be coming in would have that authority. I was, after all, a Lieutenant Colonel.

I am a patient man and my Babe had once commented that I would stay still for hours on end without movement. I settled in.

The door opened and to my surprise it was the General. He had briefed me on so many missions and had been the one to offer me the outlandish amounts of money for doing jobs that nobody else wanted to or could do.

My relief was evident on my face as he walked toward me. Unconsciously, I stood up ramrod stiff. He was also without headgear and nodded in my direction. He pointed to the chair and I sat down. My strength was not what it should be and just the few moments of standing at attention had weakened me.

We stared at each other. Finally he spoke. "Colonel, you have no idea how happy I am to see you. We heard how fucked the whole mission was from the get-go from the chopper crew. We put together a team as fast as we could but had trouble finding your location. I am devastated at the loss of life and I assure you that the men who gave their lives will be honored and their families compensated."

I spoke from the heart. "Thank you, General for your help in getting us out. I cannot imagine what happened. I get first crack at the asshole who set us up, sir. I will class it as a freebie."

I was choosing my words carefully. Unfortunately someone had tipped off the enemy.

I had refused to extend my contract for another 20 missions or 5 years. I was getting too old for this shit and I wanted to have a life, and a Someday. I needed my Babe, and Rangeman needed to be run more hands on.

I was watching for any signs of emotion about that. There were only two people who had the details what was going on with the mission. One was my handler and the other was the General. I had trusted them both with my life many times over the years and did not want to believe that it had been either, but the facts spoke for themselves. I was set up.


	3. Chapter 3

**I wanted to hide Ranger at my house but my husband said no! Janet, I guess he is yours.**

Chapter 3

Ranger's POV

I woke up in a sweat. My nightmare had just taken a turn for the worse. I was now adding in alternate endings in an effort to control the situation and bring it to a logical end.

Hector had made the first call last night. He was like a man possessed when it came to ferreting out information through the computer world. He had found an errant link that had been attached to my handlers' incoming messages.

As of this moment, he had put in additional safety procedures with respect to Rangeman. He would contact me again with more information later. I had attempted to caution him to be ever vigilant and I could hear the growl of disgust in his voice. He knew his way around a computer and was almost overly confident that nobody would get the drop on him. I could hear him sharpening his knives as I spoke to him.

Once again, I climbed into workout gear. I needed to keep busy or I would go crazy pacing in my apartment or on five.

I headed downstairs and opened the door to the sounds of my men working out. Grunts of effort using the weights mixed with the sound of feet moving on the custom made martial arts mat. I could see someone hitting the mat and then springing to their feet to continue their sparring.

The treadmills were all in operation with men either warming up, running at full speed, or cooling down. There was the sound of someone working the heavy bag in the corner, and I gravitated to that area. I could tell by the sound that Tank was punishing it by the cadence of the strokes.

I nodded to him and stepped behind the bag, holding it for him to take another hit. Tank was in fine form this morning and his hits were hard and precise. His hands looked like he had been working the bag for some time and the longer I looked at his hands, the harder he hit.

Finally he stepped back and took a shuddering breath. I may have been the one almost killed, and now under house arrest, but he was shouldering all the responsibilities as second in command as I was unable to leave the building for any reason.

I was unable to meet with clients, head out on calls, participate in take-downs or just to hop into my Turbo and take a leisurely drive around town. Worst of all, I was unable to visit Stephanie, calm her fears and wipe away her tears as she faced a future possibly without me.

Unfortunately, the bracelet on my ankle was such a new and improved design that my movements could also be tracked inside the building and a running description was uploading every fifteen seconds.

I had had enough time to reason that to escape, the only way to remove it was with a set of bolt cutters and a fast get away car with the engine running and the garage door open. I had almost arrived at the planning stages.

There was a complete laundry list of rules and requirements to keep my sorry ass out of military prison and I was trying to abide by them.

No weapons on me or within five feet unless on a person other than myself. No outside contact with members of the public other than my immediate family or my lawyer.

No phone calls incoming or outgoing from any member of the armed forces, its affiliates, or contractors.

No leaving the building for any reason unless I was scheduled for another round of interrogation, and then I would be escorted by members of a military security team.

I had to give up my passport, a minor thing really. They suspected but did not know of the other six alias's in Tank's safe.

He had taken the precaution just after my return and had my office and apartment professionally cleaned. Les was not just a pretty face. He knew what needed to be done.

We also had a contingency plan. Les and I looked similar since we were first cousins and with hair extensions, make-up and padded clothes, could pass for me in a pinch. If it looked like I was going to be sentenced to serve in some hell-hole of a secluded prison inside a mountain in Colorado, I would disappear, never to be seen again. Les could keep them busy for a day or so looking for him.

I had always left Rangeman able to hold its own in the event of my death and it would take the government lawyers years to try to close it down.

My buddy, Jason Jamieson was a shark when it came to law. He had written a number of laws that were in effect today. He would save my company and my men.

Unfortunately it was my ass I was wanting him to save the most. The idea of rotting in a prison cell for my remaining days, cut off from all the people I knew and loved was almost too much to absorb. I did have a back up plan if it came to that. I knew that my best friend and confidant would do what needed to be done. I was a mercenary, after all.

Life without my Babe was no life. She had been banned from the building since she was at best, a contract worker in the governments eyes. Well, we could work around that too. She had the phone and she had my men to help as needed.

It was the old switcheroo. She had come into the building disguised as a delivery person and I had waited for her on seven. Our welcoming was at best rapid, but very satisfying. She left with that special grin on her face, and I was calmer for a few hours.

My men decided that we would need a number of deliveries from that supplier for the foreseeable future and I hoped it would last before someone caught on.

Stephanie was not without her own wiles. Mary Lou had dressed up like Stephanie, complete with a wig and she and Lula had driven around for a couple of hours looking for a skip. They had stopped for lunch at Cluck in a Bucket, donuts at Tasty Bakery, and although they ate in the car, it appeared to calm everyone's surveillance nerves enough to pass.

Hector was jamming all unauthorized phone taps and so far the phones I and my Babe had were safe.

Tank had taken the liberty to plant himself at her apartment one day and showed her that her apartment was being bugged. Her first response was to rip them out and flush them but a number of notes later she realized that leaving them there gave the false impression she had no idea of their whereabouts.

That too gave her more stress. Now she had to move around her apartment trying to appear like normal, knowing that every sound, every phone call, and every visitor was being taped. She couldn't hide at Mary Lou's house for long or it would become suspicious. Everything was being marked down and she was even paranoid that she might mumble something in her sleep, so she couldn't even take a trip to Denial Land without guilt.

Steph was smart enough to use her 'other phone' sparingly and only in a place she could observe for any suspicious activity. Unfortunately we could not plan for every eventuality but assigning a comm van to track her every movement had not apparently been budgeted for at the present time.

I knew that the government was in serious trouble. At last count, over 800,000 innocent people were without a job and unable to pay bills and here they were hassling me.

I thought back to all the years serving my country. My safe was jammed with medals presented by Generals, Admirals and even a President.

My body was scarred from the shrapnel and bullets that had entered my body from missions.

My first hand knowledge of how the world was evil under the facade of humanitarian aid was so toxic that I would have trouble spelling it out verbally, let alone having it published on an ebook site.

I was in deep shit and for the life of me, I had no idea how to extricate myself.

~~~o0o~~~

Tank's POV

Downstairs, there was a conference going on in my office behind closed doors. I was sitting behind my massive desk, tapping a pencil on the blotter in thought. Les and Bobby were sitting in the guest chairs.

Les looked at Bobby then myself. Finally not able to stand it any longer, he reached over and took the pencil out of my hand.

I leaned back in my chair. I could feel my face redden and heaved a giant sigh. This was turning out to be a colossal clusterfuck of epic proportions. Not just Ranger's future was in jeopardy, but so was all of Rangeman. It appeared they were scooping him before someone else had a chance to.

Mentally I reviewed the time line. One week ago, Rangeman had been invaded by the Ft. Bragg MP's and a contingent of Army CID's. They were carrying documents authorizing them to apprehend one Ricardo Carlos Manoso.

Poor Zip had been on duty at the front door. He had enough time to hit the panic button by his right knee before he had been roughly dragged out of the chair and unceremoniously dumped onto the floor and cuffed. The camera in the corner was disabled by a bullet to the middle of the lens.

As Rangemen poured out of the stairways and elevators they were also incapacitated and left to wonder what the hell was going on.

Ranger and I came racing down the stairs weapons in hand and were also detained.

Ranger identified himself. He was surrounded immediately and his rights were read to him. He was swiftly disarmed and cuffed. A bulletproof vest was slid over his head like a pullover and a copy of the arrest order was left on the top of the desk. The team moved out, practically dragging Ranger with them in their haste to vacate the building.

As more men poured out into the front reception area and cut off the plastic restraints holding their trussed up compatriots, all eyes turned to me. I was reading the orders and cleared my throat.

"The arrest warrant states that he disobeyed orders and changed the mission. He is presumed to have derailed the mission placing the men in his command at risk. They also charge that he was preparing to sell military knowledge that he possesses that would endanger the brave men and women who serve and possibly put them in harms' way.

As you are aware, he has refused to commit for another contract. Apparently this is not sitting well with our superiors."

The men stood around the reception area looking at one another. Everyone of them had participated in numerous Black Ops assignments or high level clandestine operations.

They all knew the orders to keep it to themselves and most had enough experiences in their relatively short lives to have a very large file somewhere detailing their activities.

These men understood that their word was their bond and they had all been sworn to secrecy. For the life of them, they were unable to fathom how the rules had now changed. Were they next?

I had called Jason Jamieson, the Rangeman lawyer. He had been a Ranger and had served a number of missions with Ranger's team.

He had demanded that he be allowed to represent Ranger as the charges had been read. He was the Rangeman lawyer and had the paperwork forwarded as confirmation.

The charges read. Conduct Unbecoming an Officer, Treason, Espionage, Misappropriation of Military Funds, the list went on and on. It appeared that the U.S. Government was preparing to throw the book at him.

Jason was being well paid (he planned to submit the bill to Ranger later) to be cool, calm and collected.

Were the charges serious enough to be left in custody, or would the judicial process include the possibility of bail with conditions? The court wanted Ranger left in custody because they deemed him a flight risk.

Jason argued that he was now a successful businessman running a large company.

They countered with that he possessed ways and means to disappear without a trace.

Jason argued that he had family in the area.

Jason stood tall and kept countering as each argument was submitted.

Finally, it was agreed that Ranger be released but with an electronic bracelet and confined to the Rangeman building in Trenton.

Ranger immediately agreed and signed.

~~~o0o~~~

Ranger's POV

I was rapidly wearing a path back and forth in my office. I had been on the phone to Jason. Once again, the news was not very good. Papers had been presented to a Military Tribunal detailing the damage that someone with my knowledge and experience could do if apprehended by a terrorist faction. I was officially done with the government but it pointed to the fact that in this business one is never really retired.

I could be declared an enemy of the state and locked away never to be seen again to keep all that knowledge I had acquired safe. In the eyes of the government, my loss was their gain.

There was no use in taking this to the press. I had my own moral code and I neither trusted nor agreed with what the media spewed on a regular basis. It would have to remain in-house.

I looked down at the bracelet on my ankle. I wanted to just remove it and take off. I was confident that I could disappear and my friends and employees could delay the investigation long enough to fade into the weeds.

The only problem would be that I would have to leave everything and everyone behind, including Stephanie. She would never be able to travel without constant surveillance. Even if she could get away and meet up with me, she would have to go into hiding, never to return.

I knew how much she loved her wacky family. It would probably literally kill them all. Her Grandma Mazur was still a feisty, sex crazed lady but they had a special relationship. They were very similar in temperament and it was not hard to see what Stephanie might look like and act in fifty or so years. I really hoped I would be around then to see how true it might play out. I shuddered to myself. Then again, I might not!

Jason had cautioned me to hold tight. He was working behind the scenes and was in contact with the General. He was making inquiries at his end.

The General had done his own research and practically vouched for my handler. He came from a very distinguished All American family with no money worries, a steady job, lots of room for advancement, and a generally good outlook on life.

That left an outside influence.

It could be literally anyone at the Pentagon with an ax to grind. I was being set up, but why?

I was a bit smug but I had proven time and time again that I had been the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the piece d' resistance for years and there were probably other handlers with wish lists that included me in their stable.

Money always talks and obviously someone was out to make a killing, even if it was me.

~~~o0o~~~

Stephanie was very frustrated. How could a good man like Ranger be treated so terribly? What had happened to justice in this country?

Her man, oh that sounded soooo good, was being detained and treated like a criminal. How many times had he risked his life to save innocent women and children in war torn countries? How many people had he been forced to execute for the greater good? How many times did she have to hold him as he woke up crying and moaning from some action that would torture his soul until the day he died, and could never speak to her about it?

Her first stop was her parents' home. Luckily it was lunch time and her dad was home with the cab.

Her mom and grandma were standing at the door. How did they do that?

She got out of her latest POS car. She was unable to use one of the Rangeman vehicles now without drawing attention, and luckily Mooner and Dougie had come through. It was a subdued Civic, surprisingly complete with matching wheels and tires and a dull shade of gray. It was not something that would be noticed as she drove down the street. Stephanie made sure it was properly registered. She did not need TPD on her ass right now.

She walked up the sidewalk and into the house. It smelled like apple pie and lasagna for lunch.

The kitchen table was already set with four place settings. Everyone sat down and commenced passing around the dishes. Talk was minimal until eating was done. Nothing trumped eating in the Plum residence.

Finally, pushing back their chairs from the table, with a coffee poured and prepped, the questions started.

Grandma. "So, where's that Ranger guy with the package? Haven't seen him around town lately."

Mom. "I could invite Joe over for supper if you want. I haven't seen him for awhile. I hear he's broken up with that waitress."

Dad. "What's up Pumpkin? I'm hearing lots of rumors around town."

Stephanie cleared her throat. How much to tell without spilling the beans. She looked at her family.

"Ranger has been accused of some pretty serious offenses. Someone is out to get him and he is almost at the point of disappearing. If that happens, I will never see him again as he will choose to leave and not want to put me in danger."

Stephanie cleared her throat. "I can't tell you everything and I don't know very much, but he was injured and wound up in a military hospital overseas. All I can get out of him is that his last mission blew up in his face and men died. They want to pin the failure on him and are threatening a life sentence in a military jail."

Tears were rolling down her cheeks and her mascara was starting to run. She had her arms wrapped around herself as if in protection mode.

Everyone at the table sat in shocked silence. Ranger had come and gone "in the wind" for years and had returned sometimes with bumps and bruises but he had always returned.

Although he and Stephanie had not made their relationship vocal, it was safe to assume that something had changed. She had mentioned that he was on his last mission and then they would be free to pursue a life with each other.

Frank nodded. He, above the other two understood more what had happened. Obviously, the government in its convoluted mind had made it clear that they were unprepared to just release a very efficient secret weapon. If they couldn't have him, then they would take steps to ensure that nobody else would either.

Frank stood up from the table. He turned to Stephanie, put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

"These things seem to follow you around, don't they? I have a feeling that it will all turn out in the end, Pumpkin."

Frank turned on his heel and headed out the back door. He liked to go to his garage after a good meal, turn on the tv nestled in the corner, sit in his other big, easy chair and drink a nice cool beer as he watched the tube. He loved the big screen tv in his living room but out here he had absolute control over the remote. It was his solitude, and his centre.

Frank rolled his beer around in his hands. He admired the sacrifices that Ranger and his men had put up with to do the job they did. They asked for nothing in return in the way of attention and judging by the way they were treated in Trenton being classed as thugs and killers, it took a strong man to keep calm at the verbal abuse hurled their way on a daily basis.

Frank stood up. He still had a few buddies from his army days.

Military men were a closed mouthed group, but maybe someone might have some information. He looked at his watch and calculated time change. He might catch him before his shift started. Frank walked over to the desk in the corner and pulled off the green protective cover then sat on the rolling stool. He smiled unlocking a side drawer, and withdrew a small cell phone.

Stephanie did not want to head home just yet. She wanted to, no, needed to be near familiar noises. Her mom and grandma were still enjoying their cups of coffee and Stephanie motioned them to stay seated.

She loaded and started the dishwasher and pulled on a pair of rubber gloves. The lasagna pan had sat too long without attention and it would be a bugger to clean. She set to work filling the sink with hot soapy water.

**A/N – since tomorrow is American Thanksgiving and then Black Friday, I will publish on Monday. Have fun everyone.**


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